Holder for pencils or the like to be clipped on book

ABSTRACT

A HOLDER FOR PENS AND PENCILS AND THE LIKE HAS A PLURALITY OF SEMI-CYLINDRICAL CLIPS WITH A LONGITUDINAL OPENING ALONG ONE SIDE INTO WHICH THE OBJECT CAN BE INSERTED TO BE ENGAGED BY THE HOLDER. THESE CLIPS ARE POSITIONED PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER ON A SUPPORT. THE SUPPORT IS CONNECTED TO A BACK AND IS INTERMEDIATE TO FINGERS A PARALLEL TO SUPPORT. THIS IS A UNITARY APPARATUS FORMED OF POLYPROPYLENE BY INJECTION MOLDING. THE APPARATUS MAY BE SECURED TO AN ITEM, SUCH AS THE COVER OF A BOOK, BY SLIPPING THE FINGERS ACROSS THE INSIDE OF THE COVER WITH THE SUPPORT ON THE OUTSIDE SO THAT THE COVER IS FRICTIONALLY ENGAGED THEREBETWEEN.

Feb. 23, 1971 c. R. KIRK 3,564,668

HOLDER FOR PENCILS OR THE LIKE TO BE CLIPPED ON BOOK Filed July 29, 1969will Inventor Charles R. Ki r k United States Patent 3,564,668 HOLDERFOR PENCILS OR THE LIKE TO BE CLIPPED ON BOOK Charles R. Kirk, 408 S.Rush St., Roselle, Ill. 60172 Filed July 29, 1969, Ser. No. 845,784 Int.Cl. A44b 21/00 US. CI. 24-81 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aholder for pens and pencils and the like has a plurality ofsemi-cylindrical clips with a longitudinal opening along one side intowhich the object can be inserted to be engaged by the holder. Theseclips are positioned parallel to each other on a support. The support isconnected to a back and is intermediate to fingers parallel to thesupport. This is a unitary apparatus formed of polypropylene byinjection molding. The apparatus may be secured to an item, such as the.cover of a book, by slipping the fingers across the inside of the coverwith the support on the outside so that the cover is frictionallyengaged therebetween.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatuswhich is simple, inexpensive and sturdy for holding pens, pencils andthe like on an item such as a book cover, an automobile sun visor andthe like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anembodiment of the invention holding a pencil and clip to the cover of abook;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an end view as viewed at line 33 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT The following disclosure is offeredfor public dissemination in return for the grant of a patent. Althoughit is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this is notintended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover eachnew inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise itby variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claimsat the end hereof are intended as the chief aid toward this purpose, asit is these that meet the requirement of pointing out the parts,improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

The illustrated apparatus comprises a pair of spaced fingers connectedto a back 11 along one edge thereof. Between the spaced fingers is asupport .12. Support 12 is likewise connected to back 11 along theintermediate portion of the opposite edge thereof. A plurality of matedlips 13 and 14 are positioned in pairs transversely of support 12. Alongwith portions of support 12, the lips 13 and 14 form semi-cylindricalclips having a longitudinal opening 15. A larger cli-p having an opening16 is formed by mated lips 17 and 18.

The cylindrical diametrical size (see FIG. 3) of the clip defined bylips 13 and 14 has a diameter slightly smaller than the cross-sectionaldiameter of an ordinary pen or pencil 20. The opening is somewhatsmaller than that diameter. The sizes are such that the pencil 20 willnot pass through opening 15 without some force being exerted to spreadlips 13 and 14 and permit the entry of the pencil. However, once thepencil has passed through the opening 15, the lips 13 and 14 returntoward their original position, but not completely to it, so as to gripthe pencil securely and hold it in the clip. The clip formed by lips 17and 18 is for a similar object, but

3,564,668 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 one of a slightly larger diameter thanthat of pencil 20. Such a larger item could be a fountain pen which hasa barrel diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the curvatureof the inside of lips 17 and 18.

The entire apparatus 10-18 is a unitary object formed of polypropylene.These may be made by injection molding at a very nominal price per unit.Polypropylene is required so as to avoid cold flow, which occurs in manyother plastics. If a plastic which was subject to cold flow wereemployed and pencil 20 was left in a clip for some period of time, thelips would take a permanent set at the slightly larger dimension towhich they were forced by the pencil. Thereafter the pencil would not begripped securely in the clip formed by the outwardly spread lips.

The apparatus is intended for use to hold a writing instrument on anitem such as the cover 21 of a book 22. This is done, as illustrated inFIG. 1, by placing the fingers 10 against the inside face of the cover21 and the support 12 against the outside face. The operation ofslipping the apparatus on the cover of a book or the like is facilitatedby the fact that the support 12 is longer than the fingers 10, thus thesupport 12 can be placed on the outside of the cover adjacent the edgethereof and the fingers 10 pushed downwardly until they will pass acrossthe inside face of the cover. At that point the apparatus may be slidacross (and the fingers 10 under) the cover of the book until it reachesthe position illustrated in FIG. 1, at which the back 11 is against theedge of the cover of the book. The apparatus is held securely in placeby friction. This is facilitated by the roughening of the gripping facesof fingers 10, as illustrated by the cross hatching in FIG. 2. Theunderside of support 12 may be similarly roughened or have projectingpoints of the plastic, such as indicated at 24. The frictional grip isenhanced by the angular positioning of support 12 with respect tofingers 10 when they are in the relaxed position. This is best seen inFIG. 3. As will there be apparent, the support 12 passes through theplane defined by fingers 10. Thus, when the apparatus is affixed to abook cover, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the plastic is stressed and itwants to return to the FIG. 3 position. This provides a good grippingaction on the book cover.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for attachment to an object of approximately a giventhickness such as a book cover, a sun visor and the like for holdingarticles of approximately a given diameter such as a pen, pencil and thelike, said apparatus comprising:

a back having two longitudinal edges;

a pair of fingers connected to said back at one of said edges andprojecting in one general direction from the back, said fingers beingspaced from each other along the length of the back, said fingers havingportions lying generally in a common plane;

a support attached to said back at the other of said edges andprojecting in said one general direction from the back, said supportbeing between said spaced fingers, in the relaxed condition said supporthaving a portion closer to said plane than said given thickness, saidsupport having a face on the side thereof opposite said portion; and

a plurality of semi-tubular clips positioned side by side on said face,each of said clips comprising a pair of curved lips the main position ofwhich are spaced approximately said diameter apart, said lips havingdistal edges which, in the relaxed condition are spaced slightly lessthan said diameter apart;

said back, fingers, support and clips all being poly propylene and aunitary item formed by injection molding whereby the item has suitableresiliency without cold flow and may be placed on said object byslipping said fingers to one side of the object with said support on theopposite side and an article may be inserted into each of said clips byforcing the article against said distal edges to spread themsufficiently to permit the passage of the article.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said fingers and saidsupport are planar and said support at the proximal end is at one sideof said plane and at the distal end is at the opposite side of saidplane.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS Beck 2481PH Smith 2411CT Lamb 2484UX O borski 243'.TUX

Meletti 24-137 support extends farther from said back than do said 10DONALD A. GRIFFIN Primary Examiner fingers.

